Different Lives
by LadyMarianne123
Summary: A serial killer on the lose bring Knight face to face with other members of the vampire community and their very different human companion.
1. Chapter 1

Different Lives

Natalie pushed down her surgical mask with a sigh. She sadly pulled a sheet over the still form in front of her, mentally reviewing what she had learned from this latest unfortunate guest to the morgue. The latest "Slasher" victim had provided no more information than the previous three. All the victims were women, no longer young, living quiet, uneventful lives. Uneventful, that is, until a madman targeted them for death.

"I'm finished with this one, Grace. Has someone from the funeral home called about picking her up?"

"There's a note on your desk from Hayes Brothers about picking up the deceased. And Det. Knight called, asking if you had found anything."

Natalie smiled sadly. "No more than with the others. This murderer is about as familiar with forensic procedures as I am. I could swear he bathes them before he dumps them."

"I think he does." Natalie and Grace turned to the source of the unknown voice. Capt. Cohen was standing in the doorway flanked by a woman neither had seen before. The woman's crisp three piece suit and perfectly coifed golden hair made Natalie feel even more rumpled than she was. Her cold gray eyes examined Natalie with the detachment of a doctor examining a lab specimen. "And I suspect he has quite a bit of knowledge of, if not forensics, than at least police procedures. In each case, all traces of where the victim had been and who she had been with had been totally cleaned away."

"Dr. Lambert, may I present Special Agent Alice Morgan of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Division. The Crown Prosecutor has agreed to allow her to observe our investigation."

"Why? Toronto isn't within the FBI's jurisdiction." Removing her lab coat, Natalie tried to fight back the unease she felt in this woman's presence. There was a stillness surrounding the woman, a coldness that reminded her unpleasantly of LaCroix.

"It seems your slasher has attacked women in several large cities in the U.S. as well as in Canada. It was determined that since our investigation was already quite developed, that it might speed up the process of his capture if we shared our information. We've been working on a profile of the killer ever since we became aware of the similarities in the cases. His pattern of movement suggests he will move his operation when the authorities here get too close. Or when he gets bored." Alice eyed the sheet covering the latest victim dispassionately. She gestured to a stack of files on the desk behind Grace. "Have you run a background check on all your victims?"

"We are in the process of doing that right now. Is there something we should know?" Capt. Cohen watched the FBI agent circumnavigate the table, lifting the sheet from the corpse to take in all the abuse that had been heaped upon the unfortunate woman before she had been killed.

"I think you'll find that she has a police record - one that involved children. Child abuse or child endangerment seems to have been the case most victims have been involved in. Two of the victims in Washington State were on parole for injuries to their children. One woman in New York had been involved in a drunken driving accident where she was responsible for the deaths of a father and his three year old son. The others had similar backgrounds. And one other point. - all the women were on parole."

"Sounds like our man is a vigilante, trying to extract justice where he thinks none existed before." Everyone in the room turned, startled by the sound of Nick's voice. He had walked in so quietly that no one had seen him until he spoke. No one except Agent Morgan, who examined him curiously, as though she could see something about him the others could not. "Hi, I'm Det. Nick Night. I didn't know we were going to have company on this investigation." He reached to shake hands with the silent agent, and then drew his hand back, confused. The woman's hand had been cold as ice and strong, far stronger than her physical appearance would have led him to believe. It had almost been like shaking hands with another vampire, yet he could hear a heartbeat, slow and muted, but definitely there. Something about this woman just wasn't right.

"Not company, just an informed observer. Part of an agreement of joint cooperation between our two federal law enforcement agencies. You will, of course, still be in charge of the investigation. I'm just here to kibitz." Alice flipped the sheet back over the body's face and motioned for the others to precede her out the door. She stopped just inside the entrance, allowing the others to exit ahead of her. As Knight walked out the door, she motioned him to one side. "By the way, Det. Knight, can I speak with you for a moment, privately. We need to work out how this joint effort will be organized. It won't take but a minute." Nick nodded motioning to Natalie not to wait for him. He eyed the American agent curiously.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Agent Morgan? Something not related to the case?"

Alice watched the far door close, making sure that no one was close enough to hear her, "Does the Toronto Police Dept. know that they have a vampire investigating a serial murderer?"

Nick stared at her, stunned "What are you talking about?'

"Just a question, Detective. No need for you to get nervous. I just find it interesting that you're a homicide detective. Isn't that likely to create some conflicts of interest?"

"You're mistaken." Nick concentrated, trying to use the force of his will to erase her knowledge. To his consternation, Alice just smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"That won't work with me, Knight. I'm one of those people that just won't go under. Sorry!" Alice walked off, mildly amused at the consternation she had caused. "Serves him right. That boy has caused the community enough sleepless days with his pursuit of humanity. Kahn will laugh himself silly when I tell him about it." She fingered the ankh on her lapel, thinking fondly of her Egyptian friend, one of the oldest of the undead. He would find any discomfort felt by Nick Knight to be very well deserved, even though he had much sympathy for the young man. She thought back to the conversation she had with her old friend before leaving for Toronto.

FLASHBACK

"Any fledgling that has had Lucien for a master can't have had too many good experiences with the Dark Gift." Kanh had said, reading once again the information Alice had found for him after the Enforcers last meeting with Knight. "But he obviously has not thought the consequences of his actions through to their bitter end. I hope for his sake this is a passing thing, yet I fear his need for humanity may lead to his death, and the death of innocents. Even I, as old and powerful as I am, can not keep the Enforcers completely away from him forever."

"That's his problem, not yours. Or more precisely, that's Lucien's problem. " Alice had replied, settling on the divan opposite from him and wrinkling her nose. Her visits in his home tended to be short and to the point. Kahn preferred his rooms filled with incense and as much as she loved the scent, it had a tendency to make her sneeze. "Personally, I don't see the attraction to humanity. It's not as if human kind hasn't been equally as bloodthirsty for as little good reason as vampire kind has. Being human doesn't automatically absolve you from past sins, and it sure isn't a cure for future ones. I think he's forgotten what it is to be human, with all the emotions and impulses, good and bad, that go with that existence."

"You're probably right, my dear. But he must learn for himself. As I said before, he's not MY fledgling."

RETURN

It was just almost sunrise before Nick was able to share his disturbing conversation with Natalie.

"She WHAT!" Natalie stared at Nick in stunned disbelief.

"She knows what I am. Agent Morgan knows about the vampire community." Nick paced his loft anxiously, wishing he could risk a drink from the bottles in the refrigerator. "And, before you ask, no she's not a vampire either. She's not human but she's not a vampire."

"How can you tell she's not human?"

"Her heartbeat's wrong, and her body temperature is too low. I'm not sure what exactly she is, but it's not human. Which makes me wonder what exactly her agenda is – catching a mortal killer or a vampire."


	2. Chapter 2

The Raven

Janette scanned the crowed at the Raven with a jaundiced eye. There seemed to be the same mix of vampires and mortals, nothing new or exciting. She sipped her blood and wine, bored with the music and press of people. "Toronto is so bourgeois" she thought to herself, grimacing at the test of cold blood. "Paris is so beautiful. How I wish Nicola and I were there again.." Suddenly a wave of fear poured over her. An old one, a vampire of extreme age had entered her establishment and had wanted her to know it. Looking up, she saw that both Alma and Miklos also had felt the presence. She scanned the crowd again, looking for a face that had not been there before. It wasn't long before she saw...Him.

He sat at a table in the farthest corner of the bar, engulfed in shadows. The table he had chosen was the only one in the club which would give its occupant a clear view of entrances to both the street and the back rooms. What little she could see of him didn't identify him to her. Not that she would know every ancient one of their kind. Not even LaCroix knew them all. But surely she would have been warned about one this old. Her master had taken positive delight in regaling both of his children with stories of fledglings who had spoken harshly to some seemingly helpless fellow vampire, only to discover themselves on the menu for some ancient creature's dinner. Miklos offered her a glass and a bottle of her best "house" brand, glancing at the unmoving figure warily. She took the bottle from her bartender with a grim smile and brought it to her guest herself. She knew she dare not trust Alma to service him, at least not right now. The younger vampire was so shaken by the waves of age and death that he had sent ahead of him that she might drop the bottle in his lap and get them all killed in the process.

"Bon Nuit, petite." the deep voice purred from the shadows greeted her approach with an amused air. "How is Lucien's little daughter?"

"I fear you have the advantage of me, sir. You know me yet I do not know you." she set the glass and bottle on the table in front of him and looked up into his face. Recognition almost caused her to leap away in fear.

The face opposite from her was lean, fine boned, almost skull like. A beard and mustache hid the thin lips and sharp teeth. Long, dark hair streaked with grey hung lankly around his face. The eyes were gray and fathomless. He was dressed for the road, in what might be described as "Biker" attire, with a long duster over jeans and a leather vest. Someone, probably an Enforcer with a background in the Old West, had described this being as looking as if he had been rode hard and put up wet. His eyes were cold and unblinking, like the eyes of a snake before it strikes. There was no mistaking this face. It was Siddig al Kahn, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of the vampire community. Kahn was legendary among the community. It was said his mother was a witch, and that her powers stayed with him even when he was brought across, though no one would ever dare to confirm that. Old enough he could call LaCroix "Child" and be accurate. He was a lone hunter and feared even among his kind. It was said that even the Enforcers were wary of dealing with him, even as they went to him with problems in the community. Some even said that he was Lord of the Enforcers, the only master the vampire community's watchdogs would obey.

"My Lord, you honor me with your prescence in my humble establishment" Janette frantically looked back at the entrance to the nightclub. Please she thought, Let this be the one night that Nichola does not come to speak to me. She clenched her hands behind her back as she watched the ancient one pour himself a drink. "Is there something I may do for you, my Lord? Are you here for business or pleasure?" She flashed him a strained smile and backed up a pace, hoping her fear wasn't as obvious to him as it was to her. She had a sick feeling it probably was.

"Don't be so nervous, petite. " Kahn replied, reading her thoughts as easily as if they had been words on page. "I'm not here to judge your pretty friend. Now what was his name? Oh, yes, Nicholas -the one with a humanity complex. Why should I care if he wants to be mortal. The Enforcers will see to it that he doesn't survive that state long. Let him try. It at least keeps him out of mischief. No, I'm here to meet a friend. A very special friend. A very lovely blond with silver eyes. She will be wearing my mark, the ankh. You will bring her to me when she arrives, won't you?" Janette sensed that the last statement was a command, not a question, and nodded, backing away towards the bar.

Kahn laughed to himself, enjoying the fear he caused in LaCroix's child. "Lucien, you have such a way with fledglings. You have the poor thing totally convinced I'm the Devil. Well, let her believe it, for as long as it suits my purposes." He tasted the blood Jannette had served him and grimaced. "Cold. I will never get use to drinking this cold." He looked across the club in time to see the one he was waiting for enter and approach Janette at the bar then move to his table. Kahn smiled warmly into Alice Morgan's gray eyes, which were filled with amusement.

"What did you do to the owner of the bar, old man? She almost jumped out of her skin when I asked if you were here." Alice removed her suit jacket before she slid into the seat next to the ancient vampire. He handed her his glass, daring her with his eyes to take a drink." Very funny. Now order me something that's not going to make me throw up all night." The bar rang with his rich laughter as he ordered his friend her drink.

Two scotch and sodas later, Alice was ready to talk about her new case. "It the same pattern here as it was in Seattle, New York and D.C. I think he's getting into the police files to find his potential victims. He's getting off on the publicity as well as the feeling of power. But how and why in so many different cities is driving me crazy. By the way, why are you here? You don't usually have much interest in my cases. It's not one of the community is it? I'm not sure I could hide the evidence in Toronto like I could if the case were still in the States."

"No child, I'm here because our mutual friend Alex is in town and is pinning to see you." Kahn saw the shadow pass over Alice's face before she could hide it. Alice and Alex, "the twins" as he thought of them, were as dear to him as if they were his own fledglings and to see them so hurt pained him. 'I know that Virginia is still between you, but he can not help still hearing her voice. She was his fledgling. She will always be a part of him."

"I know that, Kahn. The fact of Virginia's existence is not what separated us, it's that he chose to distance himself from all of us. It's hard not to be able to comfort someone you know is tearing themselves apart inside over something that wasn't their fault. I don't need this distraction now, Kahn. I really don't." . She could see his reluctance to keep them apart, but she knew that his concern for her safety on an assignment would win out over all.

"What a pretty picture, Kahn. Taking to playing with your food in your old age."

Kahn sighed in annoyance. "Hello Lucien, it's been much too long."


End file.
